Topic: How To Invest

Dear Pat: May I get your opinion on MasterCard?

Article Excerpt

MasterCard Inc., $126.79, symbol MA on New York (Shares outstanding: 129.2 million; Market cap: $16.4 billion), operates the world’s second-largest electronic-payment network (only Visa’s is larger). MasterCard first sold shares to the public at $39, and began trading on New York in May 2006. MasterCard markets a portfolio of brands and products that, aside from MasterCard credit cards, includes Maestro debit cards, the Cirrus automated teller machine (ATM) network and MasterCard PayPass debit cards. MasterCard is accepted at over 28 million retail locations. However, the company does not issue credit cards itself. MasterCard’s customers, which consist of banks and other financial institutions, issue the cards and manage the accounts of cardholders and merchants. The financial institutions, not MasterCard, assume the credit risk. MasterCard generates revenue from the fees it charges card issuers and merchants for using its network. These are based on payment volume, number of transactions processed and other services. The company also operates MasterCard Advisors, one of the largest global payment-industry…